RIP: Grizliturgy

While we will maintain this blogspot for possible future use with the Wesley House ministry, I have decided to 'retire' the Grizliturgy blog.

However, there was one post which I wanted to save and share from that short-lied blog.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” --Mark 1: 9-15

I often find myself skipping ahead in my mind when I read the Bible. This passage from Mark was no exception. I got caught up in the drama of Jesus being driven into the wilderness by the dove-like Spirit. Of course, we all know that Satan's three temptations come immediately after, right? I was so ready to let the canned soundtrack for 'tempted in the wilderness' play in my head that I was shocked to see the announcement of John's imprisonment. "What? Where is the Temptation?"

Mark's story has a breathless quality reflecting the Aramaic context from which it was born. In English, we don't have a way to keep pace with the Semitic habit of pasting sentences together with 'and'. (Every Hebrew sentence is a run-on.) Mark tells a story of action, and dwelling on the esoteric temptations doesn't fit his style.

However, my shock gave me pause to reflect on Mark's description of Jesus' time in the wilderness, and I was captivated by this last quiet moment in this Gospel.

There is something profoundly internal about this passage from Mark. God's voice speaks directly to Jesus rather than to the crowd: "You are my Son...with you I am well pleased." There is the violence of being "driven" into the wilderness, but - although we know Jesus was tempted - the voice of the Tempter is silenced. Jesus is there, with the wild animals and the angels, for 40 days. The rupture of the skies, the grating of the Temptation, all is silent after God speaks to Jesus personally, as a parent to a child.

In this Lenten season, I hope to find that kind of confident peace, the kind of peace that allows me to hear the voice of God when everyone around seems only to hear the sound of the heavens being torn apart, the kind of serenity that allows me to accept the ministration of angels while in the presence of demons.

Still, I want to remember that - even in those moments of peace - the world will always break in.

In Mark's Gospel, John's arrest is the trigger for Jesus' grand offensive against the forces of evil. Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, but it is only after he proclaims "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news" that the demons begin to shudder and shriek. From that moment forward, Jesus stacks victory upon victory against the forces of darkness imprisoning his people.

Perhaps it was that silent strengthening in the wilderness that gave Jesus the courage to join that struggle. It is in the silence of peace that we are nourished, but it is in our demand for justice that God's will is manifest.

During this Lent, find time to spend in quiet peace with God, read the scriptures anew, and find strength to follow wherever that may lead you. Read more on 'RIP: Grizliturgy'